With the situation in Manipur not improving, Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma said that he has been expecting that President’s Rule be imposed in Manipur.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 71st Plenary Session of the North East Council in Shillong, he said, “There has to be a solution between the government of India, government of India and tribal leaders.”
When asked if the situation warrants imposition in Manipur, he said, “That is what we are expecting as it has been very long. The situation does not change and sometimes it becomes worse”. He said those people from Manipur who have taken refuge in Mizoram are Indians. “Indian constitution provides that they can settle anywhere in the country. Unless normalcy returns to the state of Manipur, we will look after them.”
When asked if there is the need for the Centre to intervene, the chief minister said, “Yes it is the responsibility of the Home ministry to intervene if there is trouble anywhere in the country. There has to be a solution between the tribal leaders and the state government; it must be liaised by the home ministry. We have nothing to do and we need to look after the people who are staying there.”
He added, “People are fleeing from Myanmar to our for shelter and we are providing the same. The population, today is more tomorrow less. Soldiers of Myanmar keep on coming seeking shelter, we send them by air. Around 450 army personnel were sent back. “Around 276 Myanmar Army personnel, who took refuge in Mizoram’s Lawngtlai District after their camps were captured by the Arakan Army (AA) militants, would be repatriated soon.An official in Mizoram said 276 Myanmar soldiers with their arms and ammunition reached Bandukbanga Village situated on the Mizoram-Myanmar-Bangladesh border trijunction, in southernmost Lawngtlai district on Wednesday afternoon. They are now being taken care of by the Assam Rifles at their Parva camp in Lawngtlai district.
Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to apprise them of the concerns of the Mizos and the issue of Myanmarese refugees, especially with the present proposal by India to fence the border with Myanmar. He also pushed for a Greater Mizoram as part of Akhand Bharat.
During his first official visit after taking over as chief minister after winning the assembly polls in December last year, the Mizoram CM apprised the PM that the current border with Myanmar was forced upon the two ethnic groups without their prior consent. Infact, he later said, during his meeting with the external affairs minister, that the demarcation of the two countries was forced upon by the British and that Mizos find it is impossible to accept the border. He said that if border fencing with Myanmar is done, it would be considered as a sign of separation “from our ethnic brethren”.
Lalduhoma stated that the wish of people on both sides of the border is to come under one administration, and that the refugees seeking shelter inside Mizoram are not treated differently but as their brethren.
Lalduhoma stated in his Instagram page that the PM had advised him to submit a proposal for a more uniformed system of Inner Line Permit (ILP).
Over 38,000 people from Myanmar have taken refuge in Mizoram since the military coup in February 2021. Another 1,000 people from the Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh had also come to Mizoram.
The former Mizoram government, led by the Mizo National Front (MNF), had opposed the Centre’s order to deport Myanmarese refugees while allowing them to take shelter in the state.
Following the ethnic clashes in Manipur and ahead of the assembly polls in Mizoram, Zo unification had become an electoral issue with the MNF raking up the demand for a Greater Mizoram. Zo unification means bringing all ethnic communities — Mizos of Mizoram, Kuki-Zomis of Manipur, Chins of Myanmar and Bangladesh — under one administrative umbrella.
The hilly area of Manipur, adjoining Mizoram, is inhabited by the Zo community which share the same culture, religion, tradition and ancestry.
Around 13,000 people from Kuki-Zo community have taken shelter in Mizoram following ethnic violence in Manipur. The majority of those who have reached Mizoram belong to the Chin community (or Zos) who share their ancestry, ethnicity, and culture with the Mizos of Mizoram.
Manipur witnessed unprecedented violent clashes, attacks, counter attacks and arsoning of houses, vehicles and government and private properties in more than 10 districts during and after May 3 ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ called by the All-Tribal Students’ Union of Manipur (ATSUM) to oppose the demand for inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe category.
Manipur is devastated by nine month long ethnic violence between the non-tribal Meitei and tribal Kuki-Zo community and over 185 people have been killed and over 1,500 people injured and displaced over 70,000 people of both communities so far.